


Brain Freeze

by Skysquid22



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gavin Reed is Bad at Feelings, Human Upgraded Connor | RK900, Insomnia, Late Night Conversations, Light Angst, M/M, POV Upgraded Connor | RK900, Soft Upgraded Connor | RK900, Swearing, reed900RBB, reed900reversebigbang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:02:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27437782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skysquid22/pseuds/Skysquid22
Summary: “Well, if you hurried the fuck up you wouldn’t have that problem.” Gavin shoved his wallet into his well-worn leather jacket as he put it on and turned to Nines to wait. Still half asleep, Nines tugged on the blue sweater Gavin chose and pushed himself off the mattress. Just because Gavin was in a hurry didn’t mean he had to rush. From the closet, he grabbed a pair of pressed jeans and squatted down to look at his shoe rack. “Are you shitting me,” Gavin called out behind him. Nines hid a smile as he picked the right set of loafers that said,Dragged out for food because my boyfriend has insomnia.Gavin’s impatience bled through as he started to pick at the skin around his nails.---Late night, impromptu visit to a 7 Eleven for sugar. In the half-asleep journey, Nines comes back to his desire to relish in the softer side of Gavin as his boyfriend struggles with the concept.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 3
Kudos: 65
Collections: Reed900 Reverse Big Bang





	Brain Freeze

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my work for the Reed900 Reverse Big Bang event with the wonderful artist SpringlockedSpectre ([Tumblr](https://springlockedspectre.tumblr.com)).

He wasn’t sure how Gavin managed to drag him out of bed. 

Nines didn’t even have a memory of waking up, he only remembered sitting up in the middle of his bed watching Gavin throw on clothes, debating if he could get away with lying back down. He was tired enough to instantly go back to sleep if his head hit the pillow. Languidly, Nines looked back at the still-warm sheets and mourned the comfort he could be having right now. No dilly dallying when Gavin was awake though, so Nines was nearly pushed off the bed. 

Nines swatted his hands away, “Alright, I know, give me a minute.” Gavin groaned in exasperation as he laced up his ratty Converse shoes. He stood back up and went to the closet, grabbing the first thing on the shelf and throwing it in Nines’ face. It was a direct hit. “Not fair. I’m still tired.”

“Well, if you hurried the fuck up you wouldn’t have that problem.” Gavin shoved his wallet into his well-worn leather jacket as he put it on and turned to Nines to wait. Still half asleep, Nines tugged on the blue sweater Gavin chose and pushed himself off the mattress. Just because Gavin was in a hurry didn’t mean he had to rush. From the closet, he grabbed a pair of pressed jeans and squatted down to look at his shoe rack. “Are you shitting me,” Gavin called out behind him. Nines hid a smile as he picked the right set of loafers that said, _Dragged out for food because my boyfriend has insomnia._ Gavin’s impatience bled through as he started to pick at the skin around his nails. 

The tans ones would do. He swiped it off the rack and sat back down on the bed. Watching carefully as he tied up his laces, Nines said, “You should quit doing that. You’re only making it worse.”

Gavin looked up, but continued with the motion, going far enough to get his fingers to bleed. His cuticles looked like they were cut up with scissors. “You can’t tell me what to do.” Gavin scowled and crossed his arms further, his voice slightly muted. 

“Oh, yeah?” Nines huffed, now meeting Gavin’s eyes. They always played these games—testing each other, finding the border of the sky, looking for the limit until they either killed each other or became bitter exes. In normal relationships, this would be “unhealthy” and even his own brother said he should “seek counseling”, but unlike normal people they both enjoyed playing these games. “As we are still in your bedroom, I beg to differ.” Gavin rolled his eyes and attempted to frown as he fled his position from the closet door to the living room. As he stepped through the threshold, Nines continued with their dance, “You know,” he stopped midway through putting on the second shoe, “I should take a shower. I still feel icky.”

Nines smiled as he heard Gavin yell. Muffled, Gavin complained, “Oh shut the fuck up. I changed the sheets and everything for you. One shower doesn’t keep you clean enough for four hours?”

“For me?” Nines finished putting on the shoe and walked into the kitchen where he saw Gavin dab a slight bit of Carmex onto the bleeding skin. “I feel bad for your one-night-stands.” 

Nines got a warning the first time he asked to stay over at Gavin’s place. It wasn’t for how much of it was a pigsty—no—it was a warning about his insomnia. _“I get nightmares and shit too. I will wake you up in the middle of the night.” Nines lounged on his silk sheets, watching Gavin tug on his shirt back on._

_“Hm.” He made circles in the blue silk, the soft scraping filled the silence. “I don’t mind that, Gavin.”_

After a bit more back and forth, they struck a deal and now Nines accompanied Gavin to late-night sugar runs provided neither had work in the morning. Wordlessly, Gavin slammed the light off and checked Nines’ shoulder as he went for the front door. Nines mourned the damage Gavin’s apartment was racking up and followed behind him, making sure to flick his ear as they made their way to the stairs.

Gavin’s apartment was on the brackish edge between urban skyscrapers and decaying suburbia of Detroit. The building itself hadn’t looked a safety inspector in the eye since the year it was built, sixty-some years ago. Nines actually thought of spreading rumors to Gavin’s neighbors about rats in the walls, but that’d probably be true. Plus, he didn’t want to face the people whose sleep he was ruining out of fear of a loud argument. Nines worked as a lawyer, he could win a battle of words, but legalese was a lot fucking different than angry rambling.

Though, he’s had experience with that. 

Gavin surveyed the street at the bottom of the brownstone before turning left. Nines followed right behind, keeping an eye out for anyone else wandering around in the middle of the night. The occasional car passed, but other than that there was nothing but the smell of rain and trash.

Save for some of the apartments and some shops, Gavin’s neighborhood was fairly abandoned. The only ones to survive in an area like this were chain restaurants and people who grew up in the area. It was a running bet between Gavin and Tina if the 7 Eleven on the corner was going to go out of business within five years or never. Nines took Gavin’s side. That thing was going to stand the test of time no matter how much Detroit’s geography changed. 

As they walked on to the immortal store, Nines continued to wordlessly hover behind Gavin’s back as they passed in front of alleyways. Catching on to the proximity, Gavin chuckled, “You’re just like a mama bird. Anyone ever tell you you’re the ‘mom friend’ of the friend group?”

“No.” He didn’t even know what that meant. 

Gavin huffed a laugh and turned around as he opened the door to a small _ting!_ of a bell. “Hey, get something this time. Last time you didn’t get anything and you looked like my security detail or some shit.” Nines had a remark poised to fire back, but it shriveled up and died the second he saw Gavin walk across the 7 Eleven floors to get to the counter. The door was pushed open for Nines to step through, but oxford loafers didn’t take a step further as he listened to the horror of syrup sticking to the bottom of Gavin’s Converse. The sound was louder than Gavin’s greeting to the graveyard shift employee. 

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Nines told himself to turn around and walk out—ignore the floor, wait for Gavin outside despite the request to buy something. Painfully, he had to ignore his conscience, the entire point of being here was so Gavin didn’t get lonely. It wasn’t like Gavin would ever admit that even if he had a knife to his throat, but Nines knew that this was important. Even if it was tiring, it was still nice to talk to Gavin when he was a lot less angry. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward into the hyper chilled air of the convenience store. Nines maneuvered around sticker spots while cursing the employees for not cleaning the floor regularly. Gavin found Nines in the aisle with beef jerky. 

Gavin observed the careful movements with a frown and a furrowed brow, “What…” he squinted and waved his hands in Nines’ general direction, “are you doing? You look like you’re on muscle relaxers.”

_Wow._ Nines took a moment to glare without responding and then stepped forward a tile. He winced at the disgusting _schhhhtick._ “The floors here are…” he searched for the right word, but nothing was quite right. Words were his weapon and in a 7 Eleven, they turned into wooden sticks. “The floors are _abysmal._ ” That would have to do.

Gavin smirked, “Want me to carry you to the drinks, princess?”

“You don’t have the back strength.” Another step on the tips of his toes, arms holding onto the metal shelving. 

Nines made another step and calculated taking the loss and putting in the effort to clean his shoes later. Before he could weigh both sides of the argument though, Gavin grabbed onto both of his wrists and _pulled,_ forcing Nines right into his arms and to stumble to keep upright on the linoleum floors. “I have the strength to pull you around apparently.”

Glaring up into his green eyes, Nines scowled, “Asshole. What are you even getting anyway?” 

“Funny, I was gonna ask the same thing.” Gavin let go and Nines stood back up to his full height, gripping his shoulders, nails digging into the old leather. “Better now?”

“Mhn.” Unbothered by the display, Gavin turned to the slurpee machine behind him. The massive thing groaned, churned and clicked, showcasing three distinct flavors. Cherry, Blue Raspberry, and Cola. Gavin grabbed a medium cup, the green paper already flaking off around the edges, and filled the bottom with cola—Nines openly grimaced—then topped it off with a large amount of cherry. “I’m not touching that cola.”

“Get anything Nines.” Gavin shook his head as he licked at the spillover on his hand. “Try the blue raspberry, it’s super sugary, you like that.” He sighed and considered the candy a few shelves over. Sour Patch Kids weren’t worth ruining his shoes further. Their mutual sweet tooth was something that started their relationship in the first place. Perhaps it was fitting that even six months later it still was something they could both agree on. Cautious, Nines grabbed a medium cup and filled it to the top with blue raspberry. Gavin smiled and buried it by sipping on his unholy concoction. 

As Nines carefully filled up his drink, trying not to think about how little they cleaned the machine, Gavin yelled to the cashier their order. He paid for them both quickly and then walked over to the window. Somehow, this 7 Eleven had enough funds to pay for two booths which overlooked the street. The plywood tables were chipped and the seats had holes and mysterious stains on them. Where the hell did their budget go? Because it sure as hell wasn’t on cleaning the place. 

Nines chose to stand still as he played around with his slurpee with his straw. Gavin picked the worst option and sat down on the fucking table. Now his sweats were gonna be sticky. Nines deflated slightly as he realized once again that Gavin simply didn’t give a shit. 

He took a sip of the syrup and ice. It didn’t taste like raspberry. Nines supposed it could taste like ‘blue’, then. Turning back to Gavin, Nines caught him staring while taking long sips of his slurpee. “I thought we were going back to the apartment.” he said, shifting in place.

Gavin shrugged and smacked his lips, “Stay awhile, I figure you wouldn’t want me to spill this thing in bed anyway.” he mashed down on his muddy mess. 

It took a second for Nines to clue into the fact Gavin was expecting to drink a slurpee in _bed._ “You have a _chair._ ” Nines stressed, wide-eyed in part amazement and horror. “In your _kitchen._ ” Shaking his head in disbelief, Nines took another sip, longer this time. “Why the hell wouldn’t you eat it in there? Why the bed of all places?” Though Nines sounded incredulous, it was a serious question. Sometimes Gavin said something that was meant to be thrown away, but those small comments said so much. Nines learned to always listen.

He swung his legs under the table repeatedly. “Before I had this apartment, I had one that was just two rooms. Bedroom and bathroom. I only had space for a fridge and bed so I did everything on the bed.”

“Please tell me you changed your sheets often.” Nines bit down on his straw and he sucked up more slurpee. 

Gavin waved a hand, “If I had rats bust through the floorboards because of crumbs on my bed, I wo—Tina would never let go of that.” he pulled out his straw and drank through the bottom of it. “So yeah, I bought an extra pair.” Thank god. “Also I have one chair as you so kindly pointed out, where the fuck would you sit, huh?”

Nines relaxed his shoulders as he poked more at his slurpee. “Stand. Or I could sit if we grabbed that one stool.” 

Gavin choked on his drink—now more watery syrup than anything else. They tended to melt quickly apparently. “The alleyway stool? Really? That thing had to have termites in it. As needy as you are with cleanily-ness I’m surprised you are even interested in taking other people’s couches ‘n shit.” He threw up a hand in disagreement. He didn’t actually seem angry, for some odd reason he looked relaxed. The crease between his eyes that Nines thought was permanent had smoothed out. That swarmish little grin looked more like a smile. It was weird. Gavin looked less tired and more happy. 

In response, Nines smiled back, but Gavin clued into how unexpectedly pleased he was and went back to spooning up chunks of ice. Nines quirked an eyebrow and admitted, “I refurbished a lot of furniture when I was a kid. Amanda’s house was an antique nightmare because of me.” The hobby was a nice reprieve from all the guilt tripping she put on him. It was one of the few things that she didn’t seem to care about. 

Nines shoved ice around in his slurpee with his straw, it was still fairly full unlike Gavin’s which was nearly finished. Hm. The sugar was going to keep him up, but it was gonna put Gavin in for a crash. He shoved his straw in and started drinking as much as he could to catch up. 

Gavin coughed, “That explains why you own a grandfather clock in your _fifth_ storey apartment downtown—how the fuck did you even get that thing up there?” he drained his drink, “Magic?” 

Nines wanted to reply back. Wanted to say he used teleportation instead of just saying he pieced the clock together and it wasn’t an antique. Unfortunately, that was impossible since his entire body froze. Noticing that his question was met with silence, Gavin idly looked over and saw Nines wide-eyed in a panic. One hand supporting the bottom of the cup, the other gripping the plastic straw so hard that it was bending. Ice-chip eyes twitching slightly and jaw clenched so tight it was a mystery how Nines hadn’t bitten through his own jaw. 

“Babe?”

The cup lowered and with it, leaned over Nines.

“You good?”

What in the fresh hell was he feeling? Sharp, aching pain slammed into his brain repeatedly, leaving his body feeling wholly uncomfortable. Like he took a swim in the Detroit river at night. 

All that came out as a reply was a groan, sharp, guttural, painful. His body had locked up, brain stuck in a steel trap. “Ah.” Nines wheezed. Slowly a hand rested on his lower back, followed by two tentative pats. “It’s. Cold.”

Gavin slurped the rest of his syrup out and squinted. “Are you… having a brain freeze?”

Another groan, “Christ. Is this what that is?” Children got these all the time, that made no sense if it was this painful. 

“Ho-ly shit. You’ve never had a brain freeze before, have you?” Gavin laughed, leaning down slightly to get closer to Nines. His hand slid from his lower back to his side, hand pressed firm into Nines’ ribcage. “I guess this sweater ain’t doing much, huh?”

Nines opened an eye—barely. “It _hurts._ ”

“It’ll pass.” Gavin assured, dropping his smile. Nines’ face pinched up to try and starve off some of the pain. How the hell had he gone through his entire adult life and never once got a brain freeze. His brother’s friends complained about them religiously in middle school, right next to teachers giving unfair assignments and baseball practice with step-dad. Being able to down a rocket pop without so much as a wince from the cold made Nines look “cool” in their eyes. Maybe he should not have put that much stock into impressing his brother’s friends.

Giving in, Nines put down his slurpee and put his hands on his knees, breathing heavily through his nose. There was no way to see Gavin, but Nines could still feel his hand resting on his side, fingers rubbing up and down up and down. The ministrations were something he could focus on as the brain freeze started to recede. The touch was… polite, calming, _caring._

It wasn’t _rare_ with Gavin, uncommon maybe, it was just that most people couldn’t see how kind Gavin could be. Connor especially couldn’t understand his brother’s boyfriend, said so privately that he seemed like the embodiment of a red flag. Logically Nines knew Connor was just in Older Brother Mode so he gave him the benefit of the doubt. He knew what he was getting into, he knew how this relationship was going to work to an extent. 

Besides, Nines knew well what it was like to seem “dangerous”. Paralegals called him the Ice Queen. Defense attorneys, the Royal Bitchiness. His boss, Mr. Robot. Gavin called him Babe. 

Nines smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. The brain freeze definitely had passed now, leaving a frigid residue, but Nines remained still to soak up the small affection rubbing at his side. The moment he shifted, the hand fell off. Nines looked back to see Gavin looking down at the paper cup, picking at the rim to uncurl it. 

“Thank you.” Nines murmured, trying to catch Gavin’s eyes. Luckily, Gavin snapped his gaze up, brow furrowed in worry. It may have been for less than a second before Gavin looked away again blushing and coughing. 

“Y-Yeah. Anyway,” Gavin straightened up and pointed to the half-full slurpee on the ground, “are you gonna have that.” 

Moving on.

Nines looked at it and shrugged, following the casual ease Gavin was setting up. The moment made a good memory, Nines didn’t want to make him too uncomfortable. “No. Go ahead.” Gavin had an interesting relationship with affection. As long as he didn’t realize he was giving it, Nines could relish in his soft manner. He wished that his boyfriend wasn’t as affection adverse for how much he could be a hidden cuddle bug. 

Gavin stepped in front of Nines and bent down to scoop up his unfinished drink. He tapped his fingers in a rolling motion on the edge of the cup as he stepped away, teetering slightly. “Ah, uh, that clock. How did you get it up to your apartment?” Nines didn’t follow, instead, he straightened up back to his intimidating stature and considered his next move. Letting Gavin bury this part of himself _again,_ didn’t sit right for Nines this time. Normally, he’d be disappointed, but content to casually continuing arguing with Gavin. 

Nines wanted more.

“Could you come here for a moment?”

Gavin paused in the exit, the bell above the door jingled and he shot a look over at Nines who was keeping his face carefully neutral. His brow furrowed and grew tense with apprehension. “...Why.” Gavin spoke, voice dripping with uncertainty. “What’s wrong, are you stuck to the floor there?”

Nines suppressed a shudder at that imagery, if he fucking was he would sue the establishment on _something._ Ignoring that though, Nines heard Gavin’s concern. Nines pulled a hand out of his pocket and beckoned him over. It was always the simple stuff that won his boyfriend over and right on cue, Gavin threw his head back and sighed before abandoning the door. 

Shoving a hand into his pocket and taking a sip of blue raspberry slush, Gavin made his way over in front of Nines with an exhaustive look. Before Gavin could move away, Nines leaned in and pressed a warm kiss to Gavin’s clammy cheek. “Ugh!” He shifted back and Nines grinned. Adorable. There really wasn’t a better feeling than teasing Gavin with light kisses and sappy comments. The reaction tended to vary from elbows to the gut, grunting to fuck off, or the most precious prize of them all. Blushing. 

Gavin moved away, grabbing his jacket collar and pulling it up so he could hide the redness around his cheeks. “I didn’t ask you to leave.” Nines had to tread carefully here as to not blur the line between a simple request and something more sultry. 

“Well, you can’t tell me what to do.” Gavin didn’t turn around. He kept his sights on the exit and left the convenience store with the bell above the door jingling slightly. 

There went plan A. 

Nines sighed and reminded himself that Gavin always subverted expectations. He wondered if by now the moment had passed or not, it seemed like it did, but Nines still wanted comfort. It was addictive at times, for a long time he hated feeling this way since he felt so vulnerable. In the past, it had come to bite him in the ass, but with Gavin, there was a different kind of trust at work. Nines left the store shortly after.

He found Gavin leaning against a light pole nearby, picking at a hangnail. Silent and studious in destroying the skin around his fingers. “Nervous?” Nines guessed.

Gavin huffed. “Is that what you think?”

“Embarrassed, then.” A tell tale sign of red ears let Nines know he was right. Gavin still was refusing to look at him, instead focusing on his hand. Facing the silent treatment, Nines continued, “Talk to me Gavin, I can’t read your mind.”

“Just—!” He shoved his hand into his pocket and took a drink of the melting slurpee. “You caught me off guard. I don’t want to talk about it.” Nines dealt with a lot of rejection of PDA, but this seemed more extreme than anything else. It could’ve pointed to something deeper. 

Diving into Gavin’s emotional state at the moment when it was three in the morning didn’t need to happen then. “Apologies, I didn’t mean to go too far.” Nines didn’t know what to do with his hands so he slid them into his pockets. Was a kiss really too much? They’ve kissed in public before, even at each other’s work. Gavin didn’t look up; he just stayed there for a minute before kicking himself off the light post. He wavered while standing before taking a spot next to Nines. 

“I—” Gavin coughed and hunched his shoulders so that his soft speech was buried in a rugged leather jacket. “—I don’t know how to do any of this. I know we’ve been together for awhile, but sometimes you do something and I just… lose it.” 

Nines caught the odd phrase and remembered any occasion of a similar reaction. There were plenty just in the past two days. Getting mad and pissed off didn’t exactly match whatever Gavin was talking about, however. He’d get mad about it sometimes, but it was really just embarrassment. Nines kept quiet and allowed Gavin to reach his explanation at his own pace. 

Gavin turned and started walking, Nines saddled up to his side and followed. “You make me feel like I’m on a goodman carnival ride sometimes, shit. I’ll be in the moment, havin’ a grand ‘ol time and in the next, I feel like I should be angry at something so then it feels like all the fair food is coming back up.” As they passed by an abandoned kiosk, Gavin pushed his shoulder into Nines’ own. “It’s not you, don’t think that. I can hear you overthinking all this ever since that brain freeze passed,” Nines felt like his tongue was caught in a trap. He had no clue Gavin was _that_ perceptive. Past experience told Nines that Gavin was incredibly clever, but he had never met a person who could tell he was overthinking. Even his own brother assumed he was daydreaming of someplace else. 

“I've never been in this situation before, I don’t know what to do.” They both lapsed into silence, both soaking in the atmosphere the late-night held. Different faces, a different street, a different air. “This shit fucking sucks. The emotions—not the relationship.” Gavin corrected, drinking the last remnants of the slushie.

Sounds of the city hummed in the background, somewhere a generator or air conditioning unit clicked to life. Cars passed by on streets that still smelled like rain and trash and the empty cup was tossed into an empty can as they made their way down the street at a snail’s pace.

Truthfully, Nines wasn’t sure what to say in reply. So he didn’t. They were already walking shoulder to shoulder so Nines took a hand out and threaded it around Gavin’s arm who didn’t say anything to the behavior. A hand on his forearm didn’t seem that much to Nines at all, but it was just the start of something. Gavin stepped closer, chasing the small bit of connection. 

Gavin felt overwhelmed, that was clear. What kind of balance had to be struck between Gavin’s comfort and Nines’ wants? Well, Nines didn’t know what to do either.

The walk back to the apartment felt off. Like he was dropping off a friend at the airport who he wouldn’t see for a very long time. Nothing about their relationship really changed in the past half an hour, but the mood certainly was. Gavin felt it too. Nines could see how his shoulders tensed further and his brow knot up in confusion and in something sharp. Walking back up the brownstone Gavin groaned and hissed, _“Fuck!”_

Nines watched him shift off of his grip and throw his hands up to his eyes. “Are you oka—” 

“I ruined the fucking night. This was supposed to be relaxing, but I just fucked it up.”

“You didn’t fuck it up.” Keeping a silence wasn’t going to get them anywhere. Nines looked down to try and meet Gavin’s eye. “Your reaction, it’s okay. I just had no clue what was up, I know now.”

They strode out of the elevator, Gavin making a beeline down the hallway to the door. The keys he had tangled up and shoved into his pocket earlier needed to be sorted out to find the key, which added to Gavin’s frustration.

Nines caught the door from slamming shut and carefully watched Gavin strip out of his clothes, throwing his jacket into a corner of the room. What could he do to make him feel like it was okay? Talking didn’t work, PDA didn’t work, Nines took his time to think things through further by carefully hanging up Gavin’s carelessly thrown jacket. He placed it so that it’d be easy to grab in a hurry since Gavin was always late for work. 

Nines took off his shoes and carefully opened up the door to their bedroom. Gavin was laying on his side, curled up away from Nines. Inspiration flipped like a switch. “Can I do something?” Out from his mass of weighted blankets and silk sheets, Gavin bobbed his head up, giving Nines one cautious lazy eye. Taking it as a sign to continue, Nines repeated the question. “Can I do something?”

The one eye squinted, then turned back into the pillow. Muffled, but still audible, Gavin replied, “I’m not your mom.”

…Good enough.

Nines took off his clothes and put back on his pajamas, taking time to fold back up the thick blue sweater and put his shoes back on the rack. Shortly after, Nines crawled under the covers and pointedly did not touch Gavin. He asked another question, “Can I touch you?” In the inky darkness, it was hard to spot, but Nines’ eyes adjusted to the sight of Gavin’s back. Little tension, but full of freckles and scars. 

The sight disappeared however as Gavin flipped around, dragging the covers so only his eyes were visible. His voice was light, “Why are you asking so many questions?”

No beating around the bush here, Nines told the truth. “I’m giving you control of the situation, Gavin. I want you to take my affection at your own pace so you’re not overwhelmed.”

Gavin shook his head as the corner of his cheek that was visible, dimpled. “I’m not falling asleep any time soon thanks to all that sugar. Do your worst.”

_Worst?_ What was Gavin thinking then? Determined to upset expectations as Gavin often did to him, Nines extended a hand out to carefully place it on Gavin’s shoulder. “Good?”

“Yeah.” He said evenly, more curious than cautious at this point. Nines gripped a rounded bicep not taking long to move south, sliding his hand across Gavin’s tanned skin to rest once more on his ribcage. Gavin’s breathing remained steady as he silently felt Nines’ performance. “Remind me why are you doing this?”

“If you feel like you’re going to ‘lose it’ while I’m touching you like this, let me know. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.” Nines’ hand felt the heat emanating off of Gavin, getting intoxicated over the touch, Nines moved his hand so it was on Gavin’s pec. He felt a faint heartbeat since he was pressing a hand mostly into muscle and not his pulse. 

Gavin sighed and moved closer to Nines, forcing the hand between their chests. “You’re a big sap, aren’t you?”

“Maybe a little.” Nines licked his lips and turned his head more into the soft pillow. Half of his face became obscured, yet Nines still felt like Gavin could read his every move. 

“It’s happening.” Gavin murmured and Nines immediately withdrew his hand from between them. Intending to give his boyfriend a bit of breathing room as well, Nines tried laying on his back to put him with some distance. The second the hand was out of the way, Gavin threw his arm across Nines’ waist and curled his hand up to settle on the broad expanse of Nines’ back. “I-I want to work through it though. Brute force this shit.”

Confused and trying hard not to get flustered at the superheated touch Nines asked, “Why? I’ve seen you brute force eating a Hot Pocket that was too hot, but why go through this?”

Gavin shrugged the best he could with both his arms busy. “The nausea passes, Nines. I still go on all those barely legal carnival rides because they’re fun, I can—I need to curve the side effects. You shouldn’t get shafted in this relationship just because I get angry over small shit.”

Nines let out a deep breath, slow and mammoth-like. “I still want you to feel comfortable.” In the back of his mind, his brother complained about how Gavin would never care for his needs. 

Gavin snorted and squeezed Nines closer, their chests completely touching as he buried his face into Nines’ neck. “I feel better… around you. I’m comfortable with you. Also, I can feel you thinking of some smartass remark so don’t say anything more, m’okay? Just hold me and I’ll hold you.” Nines squashed his mouth into wavy, rugged, hair and smiled. 

They’d be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow my DBH tumblr [here.](https://skysquid200.tumblr.com/)


End file.
